Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa Scooter and Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle.

Doom of the Warm-Skinned

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Yamaha Vino scooter in Rothrock State Forest

No matter what lies I tell myself, how well I prepare, or how much gear I put on, I feel the burn of cold and ice, the doom of the warm-skinned man.  Another cold morning ride with the thermometer just below the freezing mark.  Without heated gear my behavior changes with each action weighed against the potential exposure to the elements, a tedious ritual at times but essential to keep doom at bay.

By the time I was wandering in Rothrock State Forest I felt the slow chill of my right thumb as the frigid air relentlessly attacked my Black Diamond Expedition mittens.  A little patience when I stop would allow my hands to regain heat organically but I made the mistake of taking pictures, a decidedly mitten-free activity.  The Canon G15 body gets cold on bare fingers, even for a few moments.

I tell myself something warm awaits down the road and depart before hands rewarm. The rest of my body is warm, toasty, making the beginning-to-ache hands emerge as a loud complaint.

Yamaha Vino 125 scooter on the road

More miles on the Yamaha Vino 125 reveals a solid machine.  Nothing fancy, just “little engine that could” performance.  Just stay away from busy freeways or pavement full of maniacal road warriors.

Yamaha Vino 125 scooter sightseeing

I was mainly a sightseer this morning, wandering familiar territory exploring the changes brought by time and season.  An unexpected advantage of the Vino came to me while making this picture — the kick starter.  The Vespa GTS 250ie electric start has failed a couple times due to battery issues leaving me waiting for another vehicle for a jump.  Those rare experiences have left an indelible mark on my brain, especially in cold weather when batteries are stressed.  No cares at all with the Vino — the little kickstarter really works.

Open road and Yamaha Vino 125 scooterThe Vino can ply the same open road as the larger Vespa requiring just a few more pullovers to let traffic flow by — traffic that remains rare most of the time.  This time of year attention is focused more on scanning the road surface than the rear-view mirrors.  And managing body heat reserves and flesh exposures to avoid the doom of the warm-skinned.

Yamaha Vino 125 scooter with icy road sign“Watch for Ice” — a visual warning that cannot be overlooked when you’re on two wheels.  Those signs are not randomly placed as I once thought — little polite reminders for the motoring public.  They are deliberate placements because of known issues.  Not far from this sign is a place where water routinely runs across the road in wet weather and continues for awhile in dry.  When it freezes, well, you can imagine.

No ice today but I have seen it here many times and conduct myself accordingly.  I recall one trip where I had to come to a complete stop and gingerly footpad my way across a six foot span of shiny, slippery nastiness.

All in a day’s work for winter riders north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Just a few miles ahead I found food and hot chocolate and the chance to reflect on the cold.  I’ve begun adjusting to it, my resistance to exposure has diminished and it’s easier to venture out.  And I have to say I love the feeling of coming in from the cold — invigorating, exhilarating.

It’s great to be alive and walking (and riding) on the earth.

 

 

Wishes for a New Year

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2015 New Year's greetings from Scooter in the Sticks

As the new year unfolds before us I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy and safe new year both on and off the road.  I hesitate making resolutions, mostly because as I review my journals written over the years (40 years worth) I see the same things come up — eat better, exercise more, and pay more attention to life.

So I suppose my resolutions are cast in concrete.

Best wishes for a New Year!

Riding Naked

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For any readers expecting skin — let me dissuade you now — no skin in this post. Naked has connotations beyond the body stripped bare of clothes, it points to times of vulnerability and being leaving the mind exposed to the world. It’s in this vain that I was riding naked.

iPhone 4Gs on a Vespa rideI spent two days without my iPhone; unplugged, disconnected, cut off from the world and I have to admit I felt uncomfortable, a bit anxious, and sensed the obsessive nature of my relationship with the thing.

It wasn’t until Friday night until I realized I had left the phone on my desk at work when in a moment of boredom I attempted to fill the void with headlines from Google News.  Without the phone my easy access to time, weather and calendar was gone.  No quick glimpse of email to make sure there was nothing to attend to for work.  As the evening progressed I found myself feeling as if I was missing something, that life was going on without me.  All because the little device was not with me.

While doing errands on Saturday I was like a stranger in a strange land as I noticed how many people were walking through the grocery store looking at their phones, tapping into an unseen flow of energy that kept them safe and content.

Like a drug.

I would find out later that my wife tried to reach me by phone and text.  The assumed reliable access is gone when you don’t have a cellphone with you.  I found myself wondering when I surrendered my independence for the safe enslavement of a smartphone?  I remember not having one and feeling just as safe on a trip as I do now even though a breakdown would require reaching out to fellow travelers for help.  Seems frightening today.

Vespa GTS scooter with front rackI have no illusions when it comes to riding adventure.  I don’t believe it exists anymore, at least not the idea in my head of the rugged individual facing the world alone.  Today every rider I know has the convenient smartphone lifeline that provides access to support, maps, directions, weather and more.

But wouldn’t the real adventure be to leave the phone, the GPS, the tablet and whatever other network connection you have at home?  Certainly would force a person to consider the road differently.  I suspect the ride would be more challenging and the experience more intimate. Looking at a map is different that following a dot of a digital screen.

I would like to say I am going to leave my iPhone at home but I know I won’t.  I can’t.  I need it.  But I also know that having one and using it daily leaves a person with an addiction to the thing, especially if you take a lot of hits from it.  That I can do something about.

Right now I’m powerless over my iPhone so I can’t ride naked.

Riding a Vespa on Gravel

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Vespa GTS scooter on gravel roadMade this picture of my Vespa GTS 250ie on the way home from work.  Fortune provides myriad paths to ride from the superslab to grass footpaths.  A favorite is the gravel roads leading across Penn State’s east side farmlands that wind through field and dell as the sun sinks low in the sky.  On top of the lovely scenery is a chance to practice riding in the loose stuff, gravel that changes from packed hardness to loose mounds of limestone that make the Vespa float and stumble like a Saturday night drunk.  Years and miles of practice have done much to boost my confidence in riding a Vespa on gravel.

More than a few have asked me about it raising concerns ranging from dropping the scooter to grit and dust being sucked into the engine. While it’s certainly possible to dump the scooter in the gravel (I have some friends that have done it with their motorcycles) I’ve not yet done it myself.  I’ll credit a careful, chicken-like approach, to all things new related to riding.  I go slow, sometimes stopping to assess the situation, ponder approaches, and then get back on the scooter to slowly engage.  I can remember the first times I rode on gravel and thinking it was absolutely the worst decision because of how uncomfortable it felt. Keeping at it, practicing, exploring gradual increases in speed and technique, led to a comfortable existence on gravel.

The same approach was employed for the motorcycles I’ve ridden in similar environs though bigger tires and wheels have a marked advantage over the little tires on the scooter.  I know motorcycle riders like to think there’s a hierarchy of skill that has a motorcycle higher up the evolutionary scale but when it comes to gravel and any kind of off-road riding, the scooter is at the top of the pyramid.  It’s just harder to manage.

Every ride to work is an opportunity to practice something.  One day it might be letting go of some nasty thinking, another how to squeeze a little more speed out of a gravel road ride…

 

Deer Strategies for Riders

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Deer crossing sign with Vespa scooterOn Monday morning when the alarm clock launched the radio I was brought into the world with a story about a couple on a Harley who slid their motorcycle 300 feet in an attempt to avoid a whitetail deer.  In my half awake, mostly drifting state I still had the presence of mind to question the details of the event. And wonder about riding strategies for deer.

Deer are everywhere here.  Everywhere.  And despite their tendency to move more at dusk and dawn, they can be found bounding across the road at anytime of day.  Anytime.   The rider claimed he had to slide the bike to avoid the deer.  Is sliding the best option for avoiding deer? And how fast do you need to be going to slide a Harley Davidson motorcycle 300 feet?

By the time I was riding to work my brain was still chewing on the story, turning the details over and over and pondering a few more questions. Knowing the road and location where the accident happened, a place where I have seen dozens and dozens of deer, why would a motorcycle be traveling at said velocity at 6:17 p.m. — a prime deer traffic time? And in one of those moments of clarity I dropped the mental inquiry realizing it was as pointless as asking why someone rides without a helmet or any other choice that varies from my own.  We each are endowed with the power of making our own choices. Managing the risk of wildlife collisions is part fate and part rider choice.  I like to focus on choices.

The remainder of the ride to work was spent thinking about how people manage the risks involved with deer, or wildlife of any kind.  A recent inquiry from a reader in Australia detailed the lasting effects of an unfortunate encounter with a wallaby.  Deer, groundhog, dog or wallaby — you don’t want to have encounters.

Vespa scooter early in the morning

To be completely honest, I couldn’t come up with many strategies related to deer.  If I had to list the biggest risk I face as a rider it would be Bambi.  I feel comfortable that the speeding drivers, cellphone users, and incompetent motorists can be fairly managed.  But my doe-eyed friends, they are unpredictable.  Sort of like the guy who has a heart attack just as he is about to pass you and suddenly you have a head-on encounter with destiny.  So with the heart attack and the deer all I can come up with is to slow down, learn the type of environs that deer like to use to cross a road, and pay fierce attention during the times of day that deer are most active.  Oh, a remember during hunting season all bets are off.  The deer are making mad dashes until the guns grow silent.

Thinking about the 300 foot slide, one hundred yards of Harley inspired sparks, that’s impressive.  Thankfully the rider and his passenger survived and were taken to a local hospital when they could be treated and hopefully ride another day.

Riding across the farm lane on the way to work where the dazzling sunlight in the open fields provides expansive visibility and few places for all but the most determine deer to hide I felt reasonably safe and unlikely to do much wildlife induced sliding.

But how do other riders manage or rationalize their choices regarding riding behavior in the face of wildlife obstacles?  Maybe there’s something I can learn.